Mike Greenlar / The Post-StandardThe Syracuse Crunch is ranked 25th in the 29-team AHL in average shots per game (27.44) and 26th in goals scored (2.31) heading into tonight's game at Albany.With the Syracuse Crunch having so much trouble shooting the puck and then hitting the back of the net with it, head coach Ross Yates simplified things as much as possible in practice this week.

Forget about actually doing anything with the biscuit. How about just getting it in the first place? Everything else, after all, flows from there.

Entering tonight’s game at Albany, Syracuse ranked 25th in the 29-team AHL in average shots per game (27.44) and 26th in goals scored (2.31).

The corollary to those problems is that opponents are hogging the puck and making life miserable for the Crunch. Syracuse is 27th in shots allowed per game (34.88) and 27th in goals allowed (3.56).

Yates terms the problem as “puck management.” Translated, that means Syracuse couldn’t grab the rubber if it slid by with a handle.

“When we give the other team the puck, we’re forced to play defense more than offense,” he said. “We’re chasing the puck more than we are skating with the puck.”

There are many ways to attack this issue, but Yates honed in on two: smarter positional play by the forwards and better results on faceoffs.

While aggression is a trait generally valued in hockey players, the Crunch’s men up front are jumping into the pool without looking. Too often, according to Yates, all three forwards are getting caught fighting for the puck behind the opposing net.

“They get a little too excited to go in and get loose pucks,” Yates said.

The problem with that is if the opponent gets control, it has an odd-man rush the other way. The third forward in the attacking zone needs to be more conscious of staying “high,” or in the slot area.

Yates also wants to see a better job on draw controls. He said the Crunch is below the 50 percent success rate there, generally the minimum standard acceptable.

This is a matter of will, Yates said, and also of doing a better job cheating. If, for instance, center Trevor Frischmon is taking a draw with teammate Dan Fritsche also on the ice, Frischmon shouldn’t fear getting tossed out of the circle because Fritsche is there to step in as a replacement.

“We definitely need to be better,” Frischmon said. “It’s a situation where it’s not only the centers, it’s everybody. If we win the draw, we need everybody to know what they’re doing. It comes down to being ready.”

Pelletier’s production part of the problem

The biggest off-season acquisition Columbus brought in to slump-proof the offense is forward Pascal Pelletier.

So far, both the Crunch and Pelletier are frustrated.

Pelletier has three goals this season, one even-strength, one power play and one empty netter. After scoring two in his first three games, he has one in his last 13. Last season, Pelletier potted 29 goals in Rockford. Two years ago, he netted 37 for Providence.

“I don’t think I’m playing the way I should be, or at the level I should be playing,” he said. “I need to find ways to get pucks to the net. When you are in a slump, sometimes you try to rush, try to pick the corners. Then you shoot wide, you wait too long. I’ve just got to pick it up here.”

Columbus brass puts Crunch under spotlight

If a visit from the boss means anything, the Crunch should have some extra jump this weekend.

Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson is scheduled to catch Syracuse’s game in Rochester on Friday and at home against Hartford on Saturday. Assistant GM Chris MacFarland is expected to be in Albany tonight and then swing back through Syracuse on Saturday.

MacFarland said Howson’s visit at this point was already in his plans and isn’t necessarily a reaction to the Crunch’s ills. Crunch owner Howard Dolgon is also in town Saturday, so it’s possible the three men could close out the new affiliation agreement between Syracuse and Columbus.

As far as improving the current edition of the Crunch, MacFarland said the organization is on the lookout to pick up another center.